The last fortnight has brought highs and lows for Hull City’s international stars but for those left behind in East Yorkshire it has been more a period of quiet contemplation.

This Championship season is not working out as anyone expected. Just four wins have come from 16 games and three straight defeats has left City languishing in 20th place ahead of hosting Ipswich Town this afternoon.

Michael Hector, one of 11 new signings to arrive at the KCOM Stadium this summer, thought he had joined a club that would challenge for promotion back to the Premier League. Instead, a third of the way through the campaign, the central defender currently finds himself peering over his shoulder. “We’ve not been delivering,” he admitted.

Hector was banned for City’s 4-1 loss at Sheffield United last time out but was part of the back-to-back home defeats against Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough that have seen the pressure creeping up on a team still struggling to readjust to life outside of the top flight.

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“Being suspended for the last game it gave me a chance to look back at my games properly,” said Hector, whose own lapse led to a professional foul and a penalty to Middlesbrough in a 3-1 loss at the KCOM Stadium 18 days ago.

“It’s been up and down for me as well. I’ve played well in some games but obviously over the whole season I don’t think I’ve played well enough.

“I’m looking now to bounce back and put in a string of performances and get a lot more clean-sheets than we’ve been getting. It’s been good enough as a defender.

“I’ve made mistakes that I don’t normally make but this is the Championship and it’s a tough league that keeps getting harder.

“I still feel like a confident person but when you’re down there in the table then obviously you don’t feel particularly nice. As a player I still believe in my ability and believe in the team. That’s the main thing. We’ll stick together.”

Michael Hector of Hull City scores his side's second goal against Nottingham Forest

And that begins at the top of the tree. City’s toil has led to questions over Leonid Slutsky’s long-term security as head coach but like team-mates David Meyler and Michael Dawson, who both gave ringing endorsements for Slutsky before the international break, Hector says his boss should not carry the can alone.

“The manager can’t control a lot that happens on the pitch,” he said. "He can make the substitutions but it’s down to us on the pitch to put things right.

“We know what type of character he is and tells us how he feels. That’s only right. It’s good to know how he’s feeling after a game because that’s mainly when the truth comes out.

“For us, his personality is very good. It’s just hard for him to look at the team he’s put together and for it not to be doing the right things. We should be doing a lot better. You have to stand up and be counted. The manager has put his faith in us all and it’s up to us to repay him. I feel that it’s us players who should be taking the blame.

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“We’re the ones on the pitch and our performances have not been good enough at times this season.”

That conclusion was inescapable during the seven days that led up to the final international break of 2017.

A 3-2 loss at home to Nottingham Forest was unexpected after a 1-0 win at Barnsley had promised a corner turned, before a 3-1 defeat against Middlesbrough ranked with a performance as poor as any served up under Slutsky. There was hope of at least a point for much of a Yorkshire derby at Sheffield United but a late collapse brought a 4-1 loss.

Only four clubs are left below City in the Championship now but Hector remains adamant there is ample potential for this side to make a rapid ascent.

“Look at our team,” he said. “I’m looking across it and there’s players who are going to the World Cup. Not many Championship sides can say that.

“There’s quality and experience of both the Championship and the Premier League. I feel as though we can turn this around.

“You can’t be stupid enough to think that relegation isn’t possible. No one is safe.

“But we know we’re good enough to put a run together and pull away from the bottom half of the table. We need to get a good result against Ipswich and it’s going to be a fight.”

Perhaps not for all the right reasons, the visit of Mick McCarthy’s team should also be entertaining. Ipswich are no shrinking violets, scoring 26 times to sit on the edge of the play-off picture, while City’s home fixtures have also come to guarantee goals. Just one clean-sheet, in City’s rout of Bolton in late August, has come at the KCOM Stadium all season.

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“As a defender we feel (we’re too open sometimes) but the type of players we have, it’s a very good attacking line-up,” said Hector, who will challenge Fikayo Tomori for a place alongside Michael Dawson in City’s defence today.

“We’re trying to work on our defensive shape off the ball. Sometimes teams that want to be open will be vulnerable to a counter attack but some of the goals we’ve conceded aren’t counter attacks.

“It’s sloppy mistakes on the ball or off the ball, not covering each other. This is what we’ve worked on to try and put right.”